“We’re here not to stay but to create an environment where Iraqis can take over their country and to stay as long as necessary and not any longer,” he said. “As we build up Iraqi forces we will be able to relieve the stress on our force and see a reduction of coalition forces over some period of time, probably close to the Iraqi elections.”

Rumsfeld also said he expected fighting to continue, and in some areas intensify, until the elections. He praised the Iraqi military for its recent success in taking over Samarra along with U.S. troops and putting it under the authority of the Iyad Allawi government.

Such joint operations will expand to another 30 cities and towns where militias opposed to the U.S.-led occupation have been functioning openly, according to the Pentagon report, “U.S. National Strategy for Supporting Iraq.”

During that weekend, the U.S. military stepped up air assaults on Baathist and other militias in Fallujah. The raids were carried out with relative impunity and few protests around the world.

During Rumsfeld’s visit, members of the Mahdi militia loyal to Muqtada al-Sadr, whose forces fought fiercely with U.S. troops in Najaf earlier this year, also began turning in their weapons in Sadr City, outside Baghdad, after a deal with U.S. commanders and the Iraqi interim government.

At the same time, U.S. forces launched air strikes in Fallujah, in the so-called Sunni triangle, and U.S. and Iraqi troops began establishing control of nearby Ramadi. Iraqi army units swept through seven mosques in Ramadi on their own, according to BBC News.

One of the goals of the Pentagon plan is the gradual reduction in the number of U.S. troops in Iraq in brigade-size increments of roughly 5,000 troops. Washington currently has 138,000 deployed there. The Pentagon aims to train, equip, and deploy Iraqi troops to hold cities like Samarra after they are taken by U.S. and Iraqi forces.

On October 3, after three days of fighting, about 3,000 U.S. troops along with 2,000 Iraqi army and national guard soldiers overwhelmed militias in the city, meeting little resistance. Samarra is part of Sunni triangle, which also includes Fallujah and Ramadi—the sites of fierce and bloody fighting in April—and the northern Babil province. Forces loyal to the former Baathist regime of Saddam Hussein have had a strong base in this area.

As many as 1,200 U.S. troops will remain in Samarra to back up 600 Iraqi provincial police officers and an elite police battalion. U.S. Maj. Gen. John Batiste, commander of the Army division that led the attack in Samarra, said he was not sure how many insurgents remain in the town. According to a report by the Knight Ridder news service, Batiste cited the ineffectual resistance and the estimated 255 militiamen killed or captured, which he said was a low figure, as evidence that many insurgents may have fled the city or gone into hiding.

Batiste praised the performance of Iraqi troops in Samarra who he credited with single-handedly removing militiamen from the city’s Golden Mosque, a site revered by Shia Muslims. “Iraqi forces performed extremely well and we are very proud of them,” Batiste said.

On October 6, U.S. forces opened up a second similar sweep into the provincial towns of Mahmoudiyah, Youssifiyah, and Latifiyah south of Baghdad. U.S. troops sealed off roads leading to the cities, reported Al Jazeera TV.

By October 12, a similar sweep of Ramadi was also under way, where Iraqi troops were playing a major role like in Samarra.

In praising the Iraqi military, Rumsfeld said October 10, “They performed bravely in Najaf and Samarra.” He also said that 700 Iraqi policemen and national guardsmen have been killed since the beginning of the year. “They’re not hiding in their barracks,” he said, but are fighting against Baathists and other militias.

Washington had hoped to smash the Baathist army during the March 2003 invasion by opening up a northern front through Turkey simultaneously with the southern invasion from Kuwait. This became impossible, however, when Ankara backtracked from its initial pledge to allow U.S. troops to use its soil for such an operation. Saddam Hussein’s army quickly dissolved. Its remnants have played a central role in the groups that have carried out armed attacks on civilian and military targets since last year. This is what the current U.S.-led offensive is aiming to wipe out.

Washington and the Iraqi interim government led by Prime Minister Iyad Allawi are aiming to accomplish this goal not just through force but also by cutting deals with opponents after weakening them militarily.

Under the terms of the agreement with the Mahdi militia, for example, its members will be paid $50 each for each weapon handed in over a five-day period. In addition, the interim regime pledged to allocate $500 million for the reconstruction of Sadr City, a largely working-class area with 2 million inhabitants.

The accord also provides for amnesty for members of the militia who have not been involved in any criminal acts. Muqtada al-Sadr and his top aids would also be allowed to participate in the elections. This agreement registers further progress by Washington and its allies in Iraq in their effort to stabilize the country before the upcoming elections.

The deal was struck after relentless military assaults on the Mahdi militia in Sadr City throughout September that dealt devastating blows to the group. According to the New York Times, U.S. forces used fighter jets and AC-130 gunships to fire missiles and cannon from the air on militia positions there. U.S. Col. Robert Abrams told the Times that his troops kill daily between 10 Mahdi militiamen “on a slow day,” and 100 militiamen, “on a busy day.” He added that there have been many busy days.

According to the BBC, the interim government is now engaged into negotiations toward striking a similar deal with opponents in Fallujah, while the U.S. air force is carrying out similar assaults there.

Rumsfeld stopped in Iraq on his way to a NATO meeting in Romania. According to the Associated Press, he also had a stopover to take a look at a Romanian military base that Washington is interested in renting and using as part of relocating many of its forces out of Germany and elsewhere in western Europe and toward the east.

The base was used by 3,500 U.S. troops as a staging area for airlifts into northern Iraq in the opening days of the war in 2003. It was also used as an Air Force hub during the U.S. war against Afghanistan. “It’s all about location, location, location,” said a senior official traveling with Rumsfeld reported Reuters. The prospective base sits on the Black Sea, within easy striking distance of Afghanistan and Iraq.
 
 
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